Concertino Praga 2025 Final - Keyboard and String instruments

The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) is one of the most distinguished Czech orchestras of today. Since the 2022/2023 season, the ensemble has been led by Petr Popelka as its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, with Robert Jindra serving as Principal Guest Conductor for a second consecutive year.

During the 2024/2025 concert season, SOČR will welcome numerous renowned artists, including acclaimed violinist Isabelle Faust and violinist-conductor Renaud Capuçon. Other notable guests include Dutch pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, conductor Han-na Chang, and conductor and organist Wayne Marshall. A highlight of the season is the concert performance of the third act of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, completing a trilogy that began in previous seasons with the first and second acts. Leading roles will be performed by Michael Weinius and Elisabeth Teige. In addition to these international stars, SOČR will also collaborate with prominent Czech soloists such as soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, baritone Adam Plachetka, and violinist Josef Špaček.

In recent years, SOČR has collaborated with leading Czech and international conductors, such as Tomáš Netopil, Petr Altrichter, Jakub Hrůša, Cornelius Meister, Alexander Liebreich, Stephan Asbury, Ion Marin, Michał Nesterowicz, Anu Tali, Wayne Marshall, Omer Meir Wellber, Ilan Volkov, and Eva Ollikainen.

Renowned soloists who have performed with the orchestra include pianist Krystian Zimerman; violinists Pierre Amoyal, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gidon Kremer, and María Dueñas; cellists Gautier Capuçon, Daniel Müller-Schott, István Várdai, and Steven Isserlis; trombonist Christian Lindberg; and jazz musician Avishai Cohen. Vocal soloists have included stars such as Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, José Cura, Juan Diego Flórez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Jonas Kaufmann. The orchestra frequently works with Czech artists such as Lukáš Vondráček, Ivo Kahánek, Jan Bartoš, Josef Špaček, Jan Mráček, Tomáš Jamník, Adam Plachetka, Simona Šaturová, Kateřina Kněžíková, Petr Nekoranec, and Vilém Veverka.

SOČR is dedicated to supporting contemporary Czech composers, commissioning and regularly performing works by Miroslav Srnka, Ondřej Adámek, Pavel Zemek Novák, Jan Ryant Dřízal, Šimon Voseček, and Jana Vöröšová.

The orchestra boasts an extensive recording portfolio. Notable recent recordings include a Hyperion Records release featuring harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and conductor Alexander Liebreich with works by Viktor Kalabis, Hans Krása, and Bohuslav Martinů, which was selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine. Noteworthy is the album Mysterium of Time, featuring music by Miloslav Kabeláč and complementing SOČR’s acclaimed complete recording of his symphonies (Supraphon, 2016).

In 2023, the orchestra recorded an album with violinist Josef Špaček and pianist Miroslav Sekera, presenting chamber and orchestral works by Bohuslav Martinů. That same year, it recorded Jan Novák’s Concertos, conducted by Tomáš Netopil and featuring Novák’s daughters, Dora and Clara Nováková. Both recordings were released by Supraphon.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana’s birth, SOČR recorded his opera The Two Widows. The recording, conducted by Robert Jindra and featuring soloists Kateřina Kněžíková, Pavol Breslik, Adam Plachetka, Jana Sibera, Petr Nekoranec, and the National Theatre Chorus, was broadcast on Czech Radio Vltava and will be released on CD.

SOČR presents concerts as part of subscription series at major Prague venues, including the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Smetana Hall of the Municipal House, Bethlehem Chapel, as well as individual concerts at DOX+ and Czech Radio’s Studio 1.

The orchestra is a regular guest at prestigious festivals such as the Prague Spring International Music Festival, Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, Smetana’s Litomyšl, Leoš Janáček International Music Festival, and the Český Krumlov International Music Festival.

Internationally, SOČR frequently performs at major European venues and regularly tours in Japan, continuing to strengthen its reputation on the global stage.

source: Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu

Beginning in 2020, he became the Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. From 2013–2018 he was Chief Conductor of the Plzeň Philharmonic, from 2014–2018 he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra in Prague and from 2018–2021 he has been Chief Conductor of the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic.  

In 2018 Tomáš Brauner toured with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in Munich (Rachmaninoff: Piano Concert No. 2 & No. 3) and in Poznań (Smetana: My Country). In 2022 he performer with Prague Symphony Orchestra in Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, in 2023 in Wiesbaden and Dresden. In the 2023/2024 season, he and FOK will tour to Austria, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

Tomáš Brauner works regularly with leading symphony orchestras and opera houses including the Czech Philharmonic, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Münchner Symphoniker, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Slovak Philharmonic, Philharmonie Sudwestfalen, National Radio Orchestra Romania, Moscow Radio State Orchestra, Athens Orchestra of Colours, PKF – Prague Philharmonia, and many more.

Tomáš Brauner began his opera conducting career at the J.K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň. He made his debut at the Prague State Opera in 2008 with a performance of Verdi’s Othello. In the National Theater in Prague, he conducts Verdi’s La Traviata. He has conducted Janáček’s Jenůfa at the prestigious Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. In 2019 he had new productions at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava with Hoffman’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

Tomáš Brauner also receives regular invitations to perform at major international festivals such as Prague Spring, Bad Kissingen, and the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Partenkirchen. His recording of the complete cello works by Bohuslav Martinů for the Dabringhaus und Grimm label won Classic Prague Awards 2017. He recorded with Prague Symphony Orchestra Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances and Rachmaninoff’s complete piano concertos with Lukáš Vondráček. Tomáš Brauner was born in Prague in 1978. After graduating in conducting from the Prague Academy of Performing Arts in 2005 he undertook a study attachment at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna. Five years later he was a prizewinner at the Dimitris Mitropoulos International Conducting Competition in Athens.

zdroj: Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu

Matvejs Fokins is a young pianist with a deep and personal relationship with classical music. He began playing the piano when he was four. He studies at the Emils Darzins Music School in Riga under the tutelage of Ilza Treije. He has also enhanced his education with participation at masterclasses and private lessons with renowned professors such as Mira Marčenko, Vsevolod Dvorkin, Taťjana Pikayzen and Evgenia Pelyavina. He has participated in a number of international competitions, including the Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Vilnius (2020), an international classical music competition in Jūrmala (2020) and an international competition in Tallinn (2022). All of them have brought first prizes and special mentions for performance. He is also a laureate and finalist in music competitions such as Merci, Maestro! in Brussels and the Orbetello Piano Competition in Tuscany. His favourite composers include Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninov. He frequently spends his free time meditating, reading books, on walks, watching films and listening to music.

Darin Lambrev was born into an artistic family in Sofia in 2010. He began playing the piano and the violoncello at the age of five. He has been studying at the Lubomir Pipkov National Music School in Sofia since 2015, where the violoncello has since become his main instrument; he still plays the piano as his second instrument. He started to perform as a soloist with various orchestras at the age of eleven. He has been studying under Professor Romain Garioud at the Darmstadt Music Academy since October 2023. He is a laureate from many competitions, including the first prize from the International Music Competition in Grunewald and the first prize at the France Music competition in 2024. He also received the Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Foundation Prize in the same year at Concertino Praga. In 2023, he received the first prize at the Princess Margaret of Hesse Competition. Darin Lambrev has participated in masterclasses in Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland and cooperated with renowned professors such as Troels Svane, Andrei Ionita, Peter Somodari, Lazslo Fenyo, Denis Severin, Razvan Suma and Romain Garioud.

Yeonah Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea in 2014. She started playing the violin when she was four and has studied at the Seoul Central Conservatory under Sunny Lee since she was five. Yeonah first performed as a soloist with a chamber orchestra at the age of six and since then she has received the highest awards at multiple national competitions. In 2022, she was selected at the age of eight as the youngest ever participant in the Kumho Prodigy try-outs. One year later, she received the second prize at the Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition in Belgium and second place and the audience prize at the Piccolo Violino Magico Competition in Italy. In September 2023, she became the youngest ever participant to receive the first prize, the audience prize and the young jury prize at the International Mozart Competition in Zhuhai, China. In April 2024, she debuted at the Kumho Prodigy con cert. She has performed with the Prime Philharmonic Orchestra since March 2025 and she will soon perform with the Seoul Philharmonic.

Viktor Stocker has been playing the accordion since he was six and he has been studying at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava since September 2024. He is a laureate from more than fifty national and international music competitions. His successes include first place finishes at international accordion competitions in Vienna, Vilnius, Przemysl, Poprad or Pula, the title of the absolute winner at the international Bach competition for accordion held in Opole, Poland or first place at the Vivo International Music Competition in New York. In 2022, he received the first prize and a special award for the performance of his own composition at the German Jugend musiziert competition. He has performed as a soloist at the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, the European Parliament, the Dvořák Prague and Hudba Znojmo festivals or in concerts broadcast on Czech Television. In addition to playing the accordion, Viktor is also involved in composing. He is a four-time laureate of the German Jugend komponiert competition and holds awards from composition competitions in Luxemburg, France and the USA.